Famous Puppet Death Scenes: oddly moving
Want to read spiked ad-free? Become a spiked supporter.
Famous Puppet Death Scenes is one of the more wonderfully weird offerings at this year’s Fringe. It was created by the Canadian Old Trout Puppet Workshop back in 2006, and this current production has been brought over to Edinburgh by the Fringe’s CanadaHub initiative. The show knits together the deaths of a wide range of puppets from various fictitious shows. The bizarre vignettes vary from the hilarious to the oddly moving.
The design of the puppets is deliberately grotesque, and the action plays out beneath miniature proscenium arches, with curtains opening to reveal endless new sets. The puppeteers occasionally reveal themselves for comedic effect. But there is pathos among all the ridiculousness. The compere, Nathaniel Tweak, ruminates throughout the show on why humans enjoy the portrayal of death in stories, and on whether the audience will care when he has his own puppet death.
A brilliant adventure in the absurd.
★★★★☆
Christian Butler is a spiked columnist. Follow him on Twitter: @CPAButler
Famous Puppet Death Scenes is at King’s Hall until 26 August.
HELP US HIT OUR 1% TARGET
spiked is funded by you. It’s your generosity that keeps us going and growing.
Only 0.1% of our regular readers currently donate to spiked. If you are one of the 99.9% who appreciates what we do, but hasn’t given just yet, please consider making a donation today.
If just 1% of our loyal readers donated regularly, it would be transformative for us, allowing us to vastly expand our team and coverage.
Plus, if you donate £5 a month or £50 a year, you can join and enjoy:
–Ad-free reading
–Exclusive bonus content
–Regular events
–Access to our comments section
The most impactful way to support spiked’s journalism is by registering as a supporter and making a monthly contribution. Thank you.
Comments
Want to join the conversation?
Only spiked supporters and patrons, who donate regularly to us, can comment on our articles.